Will my farther stop me pursuing my dream?

[Jaydee21]

Recently it had come to light that my farther sexually abused my half sister as a child over a long period and is currently going through the courts.
I can't help but think that this is going to stop me and my long term partner fostering or adopting a children.
None of us have any contact with him anymore but I still feel this will stop us. Has anyone been or known of anybody that is in a similar situation as us or could give any advice.

[Changeofname2015]

Name changed for this but I'm an adoptive mum. for your situation which sounds as if it's been horrible for all of you. I wouldn't give up hope of fostering or adopting though - in fact I think you may even have particular strengths to bring to it.

Many children who come into care have, sadly, come from families where there was sexual abuse. Some understanding and ability to relate to that experience may actually be helpful in parenting them.

Key questions for a SW would be, I'd imagine:

Can you ensure that there is no possibility of your father having contact with your children, now or in the future? worth noting that anyone who will have contact with your child will have to be CRB checked.

How are your relationships with the extended family as a result of this (eg is your mum around? Do you see her? Does she ever see your father? What's her view of what happened?)

I think that as part of your home study they'd want to talk in some detail about how you feel about your father, how you've dealt with the revelations, how you might feel about fostering or adopting a child who's experienced abuse (would it trigger bad memories?) I am afraid they would probably also want to ask whether you might have experienced any abuse - I'm not expecting you to answer that question here.

I hope that's of some help. My view is that I would expect to have to discuss what happened in a lot of depth, and perhaps to consider some counselling, or time to come to terms with the revelations, especially if they are very recent. But I wouldn't give up.

Very best of luck.